What's eating the slumping Cardinals?
Baseball Betting Lines
08/31/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony La Russa hasn't managed many poor teams during his tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals.
In fact, the Cardinals have missed the playoffs only six times since La Russa took over the ballclub back in 1996, a pretty solid batting average.
But something is wrong with the current state of this franchise, which arguably has two of the best right-handers in the game and an MVP first baseman any manager would salivate over.
So why are the Cardinals caught in a tailspin and fading from the playoff picture faster than an Adam Wainwright fastball?
Nobody knows for sure.
Pitching actually has been a sore spot lately for the defending National League Central champions, with Wainwright shouldering some of the blame. A candidate for the league's Cy Young Award this season, Wainwright has lost three straight starts. Though he could have become the only pitcher in the majors with 20 wins this season, Wainwright is stuck on 17.
Former NL Cy Young honoree Chris Carpenter is the other right-handed ace in the rotation. His play has been admirable recently with five wins in his last six decisions, and Carpenter will try to get the Cardinals back to respectability Tuesday night against Houston.
Newcomer Jake Westbrook, however, has yet to impress his new employer and, like Wainwright, is mired in a three-start skid. He is only 1-3 in six starts since coming over from Cleveland, but pitched well in Monday's 3-0 loss to the Astros. Kyle Lohse has been dreadful and Jaime Garcia is one of the few bright spots on the staff. Garcia is third on the team in wins (12).
The Cardinals, though, are more worried about the top three hurlers getting back on track, especially in the midst of their longest road trip of the season. They opened the swing by losing two of three in Pittsburgh, followed by three losses in four games at Washington. St. Louis was on the losing end in the opener of a three-game skid in Houston last night.
"It's been a tough road trip," Westbrook noted on the team's site. "We need to figure things out."
Those sentiments from Westbrook couldn't be more obvious after producing only two hits in last night's loss. St. Louis made Astros left-hander J.A. Happ look like Steve Carlton out on the hill, as the southpaw walked only one batter, and of his 114 pitches, 79 went for strikes.
Prior to getting embarrassed by Happ, the Cardinals displayed a sign of team bonding by shaving their heads. The show of allegiance didn't pay off, but there are still plenty of games left on the 2010 schedule.
St. Louis is currently three games behind Philadelphia for the wild card lead and six games in back of NL Central-rival Cincinnati for the top spot in the division standings. Owning a 28-37 record away from Busch Stadium hasn't helped the cause much, and neither will upcoming matchups with the Reds, Brewers, Braves, Cubs and Padres.
Milwaukee and Chicago have already planned early vacations, but the two clubs also reside in the NL Central and have plenty of knowledge and experience on how to make life even more miserable for the Cardinals.
If the Cardinals, led by slugger Albert Pujols, continue to fall flat on their faces, perhaps a boost in payroll will be in order for 2011. Pujols, however, is set to earn a salary large enough to feed a small country, and that could limit St. Louis in its efforts to get back on course. It would be simply foolish not to give Pujols what he wants, however. Heck, the Cardinals could give him part ownership for all of the money he's put into the front office's pockets.
St. Louis Sr. Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak, a beneficiary of the slugger's talents, has made some moves to maintain a formidable squad, including the addition of Matt Holliday, who inked a gigantic contract in the offseason. Holliday's $120 million contract is the richest in club history, surpassing reigning NL MVP Pujols' seven-year, $100 million pact inked before the 2005 season.
With more than $200 million squirreled away on just two players, reconstructing a team to its days of dominance may take longer than expected.
If the Cardinals miss the playoffs, Mozeliak will have some extra time to form a new plan.
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham signed three players on the final day of the transfer window on Tuesday, adding Jean Beausejour, Alexander Hleb and Martin Jiranek. Chile international Beausejour was acquired from Club Amer
<< Quail Hollow gets 2017 PGA Championship
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been
awarded the 2017 PGA Championship.
The course, featuring one of the toughest three-hole finishes in golf, has
hosted a popular PGA Tour event since 2003.
I
<< Jags place rookie D'Anthony Smith on IR
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars placed rookie
defensive tackle D'Anthony Smith on injured reserve Tuesday.
Smith, a third-round pick out of Louisiana Tech, will miss the entire 2010
season because of an A
<< Tottenham acquires goalie Pletikosa on loan
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham acquired Croatia goalkeeper Stipe
Pletikosa on a season-long loan from Spartak Moscow on Tuesday.
Pletikosa, 31, has played 80 matches for Croatia. He was on Croatia's 2002 and
2006 World Cup team
<< New York Giants 2010 Season Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memories are short in New York, and the city's sports
figures and teams are often judged more on present performance than on past
accomplishments. It's a train of thought Tom Coughlin can certainly relate to.
Despite havin
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolverhampton signed striker Marcus Bent from Birmingham on Tuesday on a four-month loan deal. Bent, 32, spent parts of last season on loan at Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers. Wolverhampton a
PGA Tour suspends rule that led to Furyk DQ >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The PGA Tour has suspended the rule
that led to Jim Furyk's disqualification from The Barclays last week.
Furyk was kept from the first playoffs event in New Jersey because he
overslept Wed
Stoke re-signs Diao to two-year deal >>
Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City re-signed midfielder
Salif Diao on Tuesday, two months after the Senegal international's previous
contract expired.
Diao, 33, rejected Stoke's initial offer earlier this summer, bu
Canada loses to France at Worlds >>
Izmir, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Batum scored 24 points to power
France to a 68-63 win over Canada at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, made 8-of-14 shots and
grabbed seve
Bucs part ways with Derrick Ward >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released running
back Derrick Ward, who spent just one unsuccessful season with the club after
signing as a free agent in the spring of 2009.
Ward had a breakout 2008 campaign w
Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
Will he or won't he? Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.
Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.
"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."
Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.
Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.
But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.
Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback. It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.
Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Baltimore Ravens 15-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Carolina Panthers 18-1
Chicago Bears 10-1
Cincinnati Bengals 15-1
Cleveland Browns 100-1
Dallas Cowboys 15-1
Denver Broncos 15-1
Detroit Lions 100-1
Green Bay Packers 50-1
Houston Texans 100-1
Indianapolis Colts 6-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1
Kansas City Chiefs 30-1
Miami Dolphins 40-1
Minnesota Vikings 75-1
New England Patriots 10-1
New Orleans Saints 18-1
New York Giants 20-1
New York Jets 30-1
Oakland Raiders 100-1
Philadelphia Eagles 18-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1
Saint Louis Rams 60-1
San Diego Chargers 6-1
San Francisco 49ers 75-1
Seattle Seahawks 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1
Tennessee Titans 40-1
Washington Redskins 50-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
About MySportsbook.com Sports Casino Poker
Since opening in 1997, MySportsbook.com Sports Casino Poker has been a leader in Internet wagering, providing single account access for sports and casino play. This sportsbook has a revolutionary payment method, Direct Bank Transfer, gives players a faster and more secure transaction option for both deposits and withdrawals. This Internet Sportsbook takes pride in offering an aggressive VIP rewards program, along with seasonal reduced juice specials and high parlay payout odds. MySportsbook.com has set new standards in the sports betting industry, from their fantastic customer service, industry leading bonuses, extensive selection of wager types and props, to the fastest payouts anywhere... MySportsbook.com is America's Sportsbook! Open an account today at MySportsbook.com Sports Casino Poker, or call toll-free 1-866-238-6648
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Master Card needs.